Chapter 27 - 1-9 My Daily Cultivation Life with a Clumsy Female Disciple

Chapter 1

"Qin nephew? Qin nephew?!"

In the main hall of the Dao Sword Sect, Qin Ran, who was standing at the end of the line, snapped back to attention when he realized that the Sect Master was calling him. He quickly walked out of the queue and bowed towards the seat, saying, "Sect Master!"

The Sect Master of the Dao Sword Sect on the seat asked, "Did you hear what was just said?"

"Um..." Qin Ran pretended to ponder, clearly indicating that he hadn't heard clearly.

Because he had been distracted, his mind was actually occupied with thoughts of the twelve formulas for breaking through the Golden Core stage.

This was the scene of the Dao Questioning Grand Ceremony, which took place once every fifty years. It was essentially a ceremony for accepting disciples, and at this moment, the high-ranking members of the Dao Sword Sect were conducting the final test for the qualified individuals.

Hmm, accepting disciples and injecting fresh blood into the sect was important, but...

What did it have to do with him, an orphan from the Dan Peak?

Just by looking at the name of this sect, Dao Sword Sect, one could tell that alchemy had no status within this sect. As for accepting disciples, it was not Dan Peak's turn to do so.

Therefore, Qin Ran had only brought someone along to make up the numbers, intending to just go with the flow and not think about accepting disciples here.

Seeing his expression, the Sect Master offered guidance, "This young girl wants to join your sect and learn the art of alchemy. Are you willing to accept her?"

"Um!" Qin Ran instinctively nodded in agreement, but he quickly reacted and couldn't help but raise his voice in question, "Huh?"

The Sect Master gestured towards the center of the grand hall, where a figure in a bright yellow robe stood in line with the rest of the boys and girls.

Qin Ran followed the direction and saw the silhouette of a girl.

So, he realized that someone was asking him to be her master, and she was a girl!

This feeling was like being hit by a big prize. The last time he felt this way was when he transmigrated to this cultivation world.

"I will follow the Sect Master's arrangements..." he quickly agreed, "I'm willing."

"Hey, hey... hey..." At this moment, someone in the adjacent queue suddenly whispered to him. Qin Ran turned his head to look and saw Liu Boxian, the head of Sword Peak. This person appeared to be around thirty years old and was also dressed in a black robe. When he saw Qin Ran looking over, he raised his eyebrows and cursed, "You're willing, my ass... A top-grade Golden Spirit Root wants to learn alchemy from you, kid?!"

"Top-grade Golden Spirit Root?" Qin Ran was stunned. The girl was actually a top-grade Golden Spirit Root? If that were the case, she was indeed unsuitable for alchemy, and he couldn't help but hesitate.

On one hand, a Golden Spirit Root was not suitable for alchemy, and on the other hand, if she learned swordsmanship, she would become an extraordinary figure.

However, he had considered this aspect, and it was evident that the Sect Master had as well. During his previous daze, there had been multiple discussions in the hall. And now, even though he confirmed his willingness to accept disciples, the Sect Master still felt it was a pity and asked the yellow-robed girl once again, "Do you really want to learn alchemy?"

"I came here specifically for alchemy," the girl in the yellow robe replied.

Her voice was a bit cold, and her conversation with the Sect Master carried a touch of arrogance. She was probably the kind of person with a cold personality, difficult to get along with. Qin Ran became more hesitant.

"You possess the Golden Spirit Root, which is even more suited for the Way of the Sword. You could even become a Qi Cultivator. If you choose to cultivate the Way of Alchemy, your talent will be of no use and considered a waste," the Sect Master persuaded once again.

"I understand," replied the girl in a yellow dress.

"Sigh..." The Sect Master sighed. "Very well."

"What a pity!" Liu Boxian, the head of the Sword Peak, shook his head inwardly. Such a promising sword disciple was going to be wasted on the Alchemy Peak, truly a loss of a rare talent.

As Qin Ran watched the slender figure of the girl and listened to her firm response, he felt a strange sensation... Perhaps it was because someone had made such a decisive choice to be with him. He had intended to say something, to convince the girl to choose another peak, but in the end, he remained silent.

"You shall be assigned to the Alchemy Peak as an Inner Sect disciple. Well, let's make you a Direct Disciple!" The Sect Master circulated his true qi, wrote an identity token for the girl in a yellow dress, and then used a technique to send the identity token to her, saying, "Hurry and join the ranks of the Alchemy Peak."

Li Shiyin reached out and received her identity token. She looked at the name written on it—Li Shiyin. Although she was determined to learn alchemy, when it became official, she felt lost. After pausing for a moment, she remembered her deceased grandfather and finally made up her mind not to let her parents suffer from illness. She turned and looked at the queue behind her.

With just one glance, Li Shiyin spotted the person she was looking for, the master she had just bowed to. After all, there was only one person standing outside the queue in the grand hall.

But...

Li Shiyin hesitated. Was there something wrong?

Was that young man, who was smiling foolishly, her master?!

She scanned the hall, making sure no one else was there to receive her, and then looked back at the young man. He was indeed wearing the black robe of a head disciple.

Well, maybe this master just looked young but was actually very old and had a high cultivation level. Li Shiyin could only console herself in her heart.

She didn't mean to discriminate against appearance. After all, appearances in the cultivation world had no reference value. However, if he looked a little older and had a more mature and steady temperament, it would indeed make people feel more secure.

And this young man in front of her...

"Sigh!" Just as she had made up her mind, Li Shiyin wanted to change her mind. She turned to look at the Sect Master, intending to ask if she could switch to another sect, but the Sect Master had already inquired multiple times before, and in the end, she didn't speak up.

"Is there anything else?" However, seeing her like this, the Sect Master understood her thoughts as clear as a mirror and asked aloud.

"No!" she replied coldly.

"Very well..." The Sect Master smiled. "I hope you will perform well when you knock on the door before the Dao three years from now."

Knocking on the door before the Dao meant inspecting the cultivation progress of newly admitted disciples, checking if they had been lazy and whether they were suitable for cultivation. In other words, it was the Sect's Grand Competition, followed by the allocation of resources.

The Sect Master deliberately emphasized this, somewhat mocking Li Shiyin for not knowing her place and wanting to see her make a fool of herself.

Li Shiyin could sense it, but she pretended not to and nodded with a cold face, saying, "Very well!"

She was confident in her talent and temperament for cultivation, knowing that she would definitely go far...right?

She turned around and saw her newly accepted master.

"I can only take it step by step," Li Shiyin sighed inwardly, walking slowly towards Qin Ran with a hint of reluctance.

When the girl in the yellow dress turned around, Qin Ran couldn't help but pause for a moment. It wasn't because of anything else, but because she was incredibly beautiful. Ahem...no, it was because she was relatively older in terms of age.

It didn't mean that the girl was old; she appeared to be around fifteen or sixteen, the most youthful and energetic age. It's just that her age for starting cultivation as a disciple was considered relatively old among the dozen or so disciples in the Dao Questioning Grand Hall.

Although it's not that younger is always better, but at fifteen or sixteen, she had clearly missed the best time for foundation building. If it weren't for her top-grade Golden Spirit Root and the fact that Dao Sword Sect was a small sect, she probably wouldn't have been accepted.

Of course, setting aside all that, she was really good-looking.

Her lovely almond-shaped eyes carried a hint of feigned maturity, and her baby-fat cheeks had a touch of forced coldness. There was a contrast between her temperament and appearance, with her sharp and steep bridge-like nose, thin lips condensed like a blade edge, thick eyebrows exuding a heroic spirit, and jet-black hair that moved hearts.

Although she was a girl who hadn't fully matured yet, she already possessed a bit of sharpness like a sword.

"Truly worthy of the Golden Spirit Root," Qin Ran thought to himself.

When he thought about living, eating, and cultivating together with such a beautiful girl in the future, Qin Ran couldn't help but feel a bit excited...ah no, he wasn't excited at all. He reminded himself not to think about dirty and vulgar things like the relationship between master and disciple.

Quietly watching the conversation between the Sect Master and the girl, Qin Ran didn't say anything. He looked at the girl hesitantly walking towards him and just smiled, nodding at her, indicating that she should go back to the queue with him.

Dao Sword Sect wasn't a major sect, so there weren't that many people coming here to become disciples. Once every fifty years, there was an opportunity to become a disciple, and there were only over a thousand people who came to the mountain gate. After various assessments, there were only about a hundred or so left, and after the elimination of menial tasks and outer disciples, there were only a dozen or so left in the Dao Questioning Grand Hall.

This year's performance was considered normal. There were sixteen people in the Dao Questioning Grand Hall. Without exception, all of them possessed extraordinary talents and were the kind of people who would become formidable Nascent Soul experts with just a little bit of resources.

When Li Shiyin followed Qin Ran into the queue for the Dan Peak, there were still seven disciples standing there. Among these seven disciples, four were accepted into the Sword Peak and three into the Qi Peak.

Adding those who had already been assigned to their peaks before Li Shiyin, the distribution of inner disciples for this Dao Questioning Grand Ceremony was as follows:

Master Peak received five disciples; Sword Peak received six disciples; Qi Peak received four disciples; Dan Peak received one disciple.

Chapter 2

After the Grand Dao Convention ended, each of the peaks and veins went about arranging themselves. The three veins of Sword Peak, Qi Peak, and Master Peak had over a dozen new disciples plus the attending chief elders and elders from each vein, and they came and went noisily.

In fact, this was also Qin Ran's first time attending the Grand Dao Convention, and he didn't really know the process. At least he didn't understand whether they were supposed to leave directly or follow a procedure after the Sect Leader announced the end of the convention. So as he hesitated, the various peaks and veins either unleashed flying techniques, or flying magical artifacts, and swiftly left the Dao Questioning Grand Hall. In the blink of an eye, in the spacious grand hall, only he and his new little disciple behind him remained. Only then did he react - oh, they just leave directly.

He looked back at the little disciple. The new little disciple stood behind him expressionlessly, as if shrouded in an icy domain. This was also his first time, and he didn't know how to handle this kind of situation. He could only clear his throat, squeeze out what he felt was a friendly smile, and ask, "What's your name?"

Yes, it was only now that he asked for the other's name...and he felt a humble sense of wanting to ask a girl for her WeChat.

"Li Shiyin," Li Shiyin said coldly. She was completely disappointed with this master, with Dan Peak.

Why? Why could he be so shabby?! Forget about elders or senior brothers or anything, why didn't he even have a single servant?!

"Oh! Li Shiyin," Qin Ran nodded. Li Shiyin's appearance made him feel like he should say something, like emphasizing how powerful he actually was, or how freeing it was to have fewer people, at least to ease the atmosphere. But he really didn't know what to say. After hesitating a moment, he still said, "Let's go."

After speaking, he headed towards the grand hall exit.

"Go...go?!" Li Shiyin was unable to react. She was stunned. "We're walking?"

Looking out from the grand hall entrance, one could still see the new disciples of Sword Peak sitting happily on their cloud boats.

"This master..." she muttered under her breath, extremely reluctant as she followed along.

The Dao Sword Sect was a small sect, with very little land area. Compared to those major sects that had small worlds within the sect, the Dao Sword Sect with its five or six mountain peaks was truly the stinky little brother among stinky little brothers.

But for some cultivators who couldn't fly, traversing between these five or six mountain peaks was still enough to give them a headache.

Like a certain Dan Peak chief who refused to reveal his name.

The Dao Questioning Grand Hall where the Grand Dao Convention was held was at Master Peak, while Dan Peak's location was to the left of Master Peak. That meant if they were walking, they would first need to go down the left side of Master Peak, then climb up Dan Peak from the right side. Ah, it wasn't very far, just calculating the time to go down this side, about two hours or so.

In front of the grand hall was a huge square used for gatherings. Because the Grand Dao Convention was being held today, the square was empty of people.

When Li Shiyin came out from the grand hall, she looked up and saw her master's lonesome figure walking across the massive square. He was neither handsome nor tall, giving her neither aesthetic appreciation nor a sense of security. On this enormous square, that lonesome figure didn't seem like a lively, handsome immortal cultivator, only like a shabby, impoverished old Daoist.

In the short few moments after taking him as master, all of her romantic imagination about cultivating immortality was thoroughly shattered. At this time, she once again had the thought of asking for a refund: "Why not just slip away? My brother is right outside anyway."

"Come quickly," but just then, seemingly noticing she had fallen too far behind, her master turned back and urged her. His delicate face carried a smile, and his voice was also very gentle.

"At least he's a good person," she sighed to herself, and still followed along. This was probably the silver lining to her misfortune.

The cultivation levels of most inner sect disciples was quite low, so there were even more people who didn't know flying techniques. Thus, the paths within the sect made for walking were built very smoothly. Not like those huge sects where people were always zipping around flying; inside their sects were like primal jungles, where people even had to speak while floating in the air during normal times.

From the bottom of Master Peak to the top of Dan Peak, there were neat stone roads the entire way, making the walking not as uncomfortable...if the sun today wasn't so blistering hot.

Halfway down Master Peak, Li Shiyin really couldn't take the heat anymore. She looked at the steady, old dog-like figure walking ahead, and finally couldn't help asking, "Master, what is your cultivation level?"

"Foundation Establishment late stage. If all goes smoothly, I'll be able to form a dan within fifty," Qin Ran replied. He turned back to look at this pretty little disciple and saw her blushing red from the heat, her entire face drenched in sweat. Only then did he react that his disciple was a girl, an ordinary person whose physical endurance might not be that good, so he kindly asked, "Would you like to rest for a bit?"

"No need." Li Shiyin declined. She silently calculated in her heart - forming a dan within fifty, it seemed this master's aptitude was still decent, it was just that his cultivation was too low... No, she suddenly realized, fifty years old? Could he really be that young?

"Master, how old are you?" She couldn't help asking.

Qin Ran felt the disdain in his disciple's tone. His face flushed slightly and he cleared his throat. Turning his body away, he lowered his voice and answered, "This seat is only twenty-five years old!"

"Twenty-five?!!!" Li Shiyin was shocked. He really was that young?

A chief at twenty-five with such low cultivation. What about the rest of Dan Peak? Where were the others?

"Dan Peak?" she hesitantly asked. "There's no one else left?"

At these words, her master who had been walking steadily and answering every question suddenly stopped and fell silent for a while. He sighed, "Ever since my master failed his tribulation five years ago, I've been the only one left at Dan Peak."

He paused, then smiled and said, "Today there's you too."

"A single person managing an entire peak?" Li Shiyin despaired. This was probably the worst peak in the world, wasn't it? For a time, she felt the road ahead was dark.

"My condolences, Master!" She hurried to offer her sympathies, not knowing if it was to comfort the master or herself.

"It's nothing!" Qin Ran laughed and shook his head. "Although my master died under the lightning of the tribulation, you needn't worry. I've done a lot of research on the heavenly tribulation. You have good aptitude; in the future you can casually increase your cultivation. I guarantee I can get you through the tribulation easily."

"Oh!" Li Shiyin responded indifferently. She didn't believe him one bit.

After walking a while longer, she suddenly recalled the question she had wanted to ask initially, and hurriedly asked again, "Master, don't you know techniques for riding clouds?"

"Ah?" This question seemed to touch a sore spot for Qin Ran. He was clearly somewhat flustered, forcibly calming himself and answering, "Of course I do! How could I not..."

"Then why don't we ride a cloud back?" Li Shiyin coldly cut in.

"Ah, well..." Qin Ran didn't know how to bluff his way through...ah no, explain this. All kinds of strange words swirled in his mouth, saying things like "walking is good exercise for the body and mind", "zipping around damages our image", "the high altitude is too dangerous, what if we fall", and so on. In short, he evaded the question of "why don't we ride a cloud back?"

As Li Shiyin listened, intelligent as she was, she picked up on the key words "the high altitude is too dangerous, what if we fall?" She looked at the young master in front of her with a strange expression. As a cultivator, could he really be afraid of heights?

Her disciple's gaze made Qin Ran extremely uncomfortable. He lowered his head and repeatedly said, "Let's hurry, let's hurry. It's getting late, there are still things to do when we get back!"

Li Shiyin lifted her head to look at the sun still high in the sky, feeling this master was adorably strange for some reason... No, this master was a bit special.

Chapter 3

Around 5 o'clock in the afternoon, Qin Ran finally brought his new disciple back to Dan Peak where he lived.

After walking for a while on the stone path in the quiet forest, suddenly there was light ahead. Li Shiyin's spirit was aroused and she quickened her pace to move forward, arriving at the exit of the forest. Looking ahead, it suddenly opened up!

The vast grassland, the vast sky, and the gentle breeze lightly stroking the green grass. In the bright sunshine, the green grass seemed to reflect light. To the left front was a cliff, with a small waterfall flowing down the cliff, the splashing waterfall spraying pearl-like water drops, with a small rainbow in mid-air. A small river meandered through the grassland, disappearing into the forest on the right.

By the cliff, next to the river, there were two buildings, one a two-story wooden structure, the other a five-story brick and stone structure.

Li Shiyin panted for breath, standing at the exit of the forest looking at this place, couldn't help but be stunned. This was a world of paintings, a dreamlike scene!

"Let's go!" Qin Ran said, and continued walking forward, into this painting-like world.

Li Shiyin watched from behind as Master's thin figure entered this fairyland-like world, and finally looked harmonious...

She followed forward along the path towards the houses. They arrived in front of the two-story wooden house.

This wooden house had a tiled roof structure. Although the structure still had a mundane feel, the materials used were extraordinary. The roof tiles were translucent, the eaves were flying, and there was a mysterious and ethereal aura.

The material was probably some kind of spiritual wood, Li Shiyin secretly guessed. Looking at it brought pleasure, and faintly smelled a delicate fragrance, with a hint of aura swirling about, it was indeed like a blessed land of paradise.

On the left was a tall tree, right next to the house, with dense branches swaying in the wind, covering half of the roof. To the right was open space, with only a few plants planted on the riverbank. The plants were short, with lush green leaves and branches, but Li Shiyin had never seen them before.

On the other side of the riverbank was a five-story tall strange building, forming a right angle with the house in front. That building, made of a material like stone, had square rooms like boxes, giving a strange aesthetic feel. Li Shiyin had never seen that kind of architectural structure before.

Seeing Li Shiyin looking at the building across the way, Qin Ran spoke up to introduce it: "That is the research building, hmm, the alchemy chamber. Alchemy practice will take place over there in the future. This in front is called the living quarters, where eating, sleeping, and entertainment are done daily. This tree is a sophora tree. It looks ordinary, but is actually a spiritual tree. It is said to be planted by an ancestor of Dan Peak, and must be thousands of years old."

After a simple introduction, he motioned for Li Shiyin to go inside, "Here in front is the living room, well, not really a living room since there are rarely guests, just a place to spend time daily. To the left is the kitchen, to the right is the storage room where ordinary garbage is placed. Upstairs there are bedrooms, a study, and an exercise room that we'll look at later."

Li Shiyin followed Qin Ran into the living room. She saw it was spotless and extremely tidy. Against the left wall was a row of soft, fluffy-looking seats, in front of which was a table with some food on it. The right wall was very clean with nothing on it.

The layout of this living room was also very strange to her, she had never seen anything like it before.

"Make yourself at home," Qin Ran casually took off his black robe, only wearing a white undershirt. He hung the robe on a rack by the door, indicating for Li Shiyin to relax, while he himself went through the living room into the so-called kitchen.

Li Shiyin did not sit down. She walked around the living room, touching here and looking there. Everything made her feel novelty. But this novelty was not an ethereal feeling towards immortals, it was a kind of, hmm, very strange novelty that she could not describe.

She came to the window and looked outside through the transparent glass. Outside was a large and spacious grassland, with green grass swaying in the wind. Surrounding the grassland was a very tall and lush forest, and the golden sunshine penetrated through the forest. They had just passed through that forest to get here.

"Is this fairyland?" she marveled to herself, then smiled, for wasn't this exactly fairyland! This was a utopia, a paradise, this was where she would live from now on.

"Anyway, the scenery here is quite nice, right?" Master's voice came from behind. She turned to see Master holding two transparent cups, with some kind of strange black-brown liquid inside. Master handed her one cup, smiling, "Try it, it's very delicious."

She took it. The cup felt ice-cold, the liquid inside was bubbling, looking rather toxic, so she didn't dare drink it at first.

Seeing his disciple's manner, Qin Ran smiled and took a sip from his own cup, saying, "There's no soda in this world, this took me several years to formulate. This is the only place you can get it, nowhere else!"

Li Shiyin thought about it. If he had any malicious intentions after building his foundation, Master Qin Ran would not resort to such vulgar tricks either. So she raised the cup and took a light sip.

The ice-cold sweet liquid flowed into her mouth, and countless bubbles instantly burst on her tongue. This feeling... she instantly widened her eyes, how could it feel so comfortable?!

She couldn't help taking a big gulp from the cup. Then the icy liquid passed down her throat into her stomach, the bubbles exploding in her stomach, instantly making her feel refreshed throughout her body, almost making her unable to keep from moaning...

But she endured it. Very soon, a burst of air surged up from her stomach, and she, she seemed about to burp!

She quickly covered her mouth, forcibly suppressing it. The air did not come out of her mouth, but from her nose instead.

"Hahaha..." Li Shiyin's actions made Qin Ran laugh. He took a big gulp from his cup, came to the window, looked at the beautiful scenery outside, and let out a loud belch that ruined the atmosphere, laughing again, "Refreshing!"

"What...what is this?" Li Shiyin asked.

"Hmm..." Qin Ran glanced at Li Shiyin and smiled, "Let's call it soda for now."

"Soda?" Li Shiyin smacked her lips and couldn't help drinking another sip.

"I'll teach you how to make it later," Qin Ran said to Li Shiyin while drinking soda, "Actually, this place used to be a large forest too. I cleared those trees earlier this year...and made this clearing. In the future we can grow some things, grains, herbs and the like."

He pointed back and continued, "Actually, the caves of Dan Peak are generally on the cliffs in the back. But I don't like living in caves, so I built houses here. Yeah, I built both of these. If you prefer caves, you can also live in the back later. All the same."

Li Shiyin did not respond. She slowly drank the soda. She had some expectations about the life of cultivation, good and bad, strange encounters, survival of the fittest, she had thought of them all. But...so far, this was not what she had imagined. It was not the same as what she had thought.

After drinking the soda and quietly looking at the scenery for a while, Qin Ran said to Li Shiyin, "Keep sitting for a while, or look around. I'll go make dinner."

"Do immortals need to eat too?" Li Shiyin finally asked.

"Hmm..." Qin Ran felt this question was quite serious. He pondered for a while before replying, "Cultivation, is actually a process of improving oneself. From my research, essentially the foundation building stage is a process of enhancing one's physical fitness, to enable the body to withstand the golden core. And the golden core, essentially is an egg that incubates the infant spirit, the infant spirit is..."

As he spoke, he suddenly saw the confused look in Li Shiyin's eyes and quickly stopped, smiling, "So, the foundation building stage is a process of enhancing physical fitness, and the best way to enhance physical fitness is to eat well."

Li Shiyin did not understand, and did not dare to ask further. She just nodded blankly.

"I'll go make dinner," Qin Ran said, leaving her with that, and turned to go into the kitchen. Soon, cooking smoke rose from the kitchen.

Li Shiyin walked out from the living room and stood at the door. She looked at the lawn in front of her, the nearby forest, and the setting sun in the distance. A light evening breeze blew by, gently swaying the grass and leaves. The golden sunlight danced in the rising cooking smoke. She spread her arms and looked up to the sky, taking a deep breath. The air was fresh and moist, the sky a bright, vivid blue. She suddenly felt this was what her cultivation life should be like. She looked forward to the future again.

Chapter 4

After eating a rather sumptuous dinner, at least the dishes were styles Li Shiyin had never seen before.

Qin Ran cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks, then went back to the living room to see Li Shiyin sitting on the sofa contemplating life.

This young girl had a cold face and profound eyes, looking quite crafty. As Qin Ran looked at her, his mind was in a mess.

It had been five years since his master passed away. He had lived alone on Dan Peak, not to say carefree and happy, but indeed free and comfortable. And now suddenly there was an extra person, who looked quite crafty...

He was not good at dealing with such unexpected changes. Fortunately she was a pretty girl, so he could tolerate her more.

Hmm? No, not a girl, a disciple, a female disciple.

A female disciple?

Qin Ran started to feel troubled again. A disciple meant he had to teach her cultivation, but he himself was only at the Foundation Establishment Stage, so how could he teach others cultivation?

Oh well...he could only take it one step at a time.

"It's getting late, go take a bath and rest!" He walked over and said to Li Shiyin, "We'll talk about cultivation tomorrow."

Li Shiyin looked over to him and nodded with a cold face.

Looking at her cold face, Qin Ran sighed in his heart again. With such a cold and crafty female disciple, how should he handle his life from now on?

"Come, upstairs." He beckoned Li Shiyin and walked towards the stairs, "The bedroom is upstairs."

The stairs leading upstairs were in front of the living room on the left, next to the door to the kitchen. The stairs turned twice, with a wooden shoe rack on the landing of the first flight, with various styles of shoes on it.

Qin Ran walked in front, when he reached the bottom of the stairs, the light in the stairwell automatically turned on. He saw the shoe rack and went to grab a pair of slippers.

Li Shiyin followed behind him. When she stepped into the stairwell, the lights in the living room suddenly went out, giving her a shock. She turned back alertly.

Qin Ran got up with the slippers, looked back and saw her reaction, and explained, "Don't be afraid, that's a motion sensor light."

"Motion sensor light?" Li Shiyin frowned, a strange term she had never heard before.

"Yes, a motion sensor light. It's actually a kind of motion detection magic array. When it detects someone, the light turns on," Qin Ran explained, "It's a magic array."

Magic array? This Li Shiyin could understand. Although she didn't know magic arrays, she knew cultivators had such magical abilities.

"In my opinion, circuit diagrams are very similar to magic array diagrams..." Qin Ran paused. He remembered there were no circuits in this world. The world with electricity was too far away. He smiled and said, "Never mind, forget what I just said."

At the top of the stairs was a narrow hallway. Directly facing the stairs was a transparent door. The room inside was opposite the living room. Through the door one could see it had a large space, furnished with all kinds of strange things.

Walking left along the hallway led to the upstairs stairs, to the rooftop it seemed, since the house had no third floor.

Walking right along the hallway led to Qin Ran's study and bathroom, opposite the downstairs kitchen. The study door was at the end of the hallway, and the bathroom door was on the right.

Qin Ran took Li Shiyin towards the bathroom. Lights automatically turned on along the way.

"You must have noticed the upstairs space is much larger than downstairs." Qin Ran had a hint of pride on his face as he smiled and spoke to Li Shiyin.

"Oh? Is it?" Li Shiyin asked in her mind, as she hadn't paid much attention, but didn't ask out loud.

"This is a Heaven and Earth magic array." Qin Ran explained on his own, "Actually there's also one downstairs, but that one I set up when I first learned, so the expanded space is very small and not obvious. The one upstairs is more noticeable."

The Heaven and Earth array involved space manipulation, very difficult to comprehend and set up, definitely not something a Foundation Establishment cultivator could do. That was why Qin Ran was proud.

Though... he was winking at a blind person here. Li Shiyin didn't understand any of this.

"This is the clothes dryer...a combination of heating and wind arrays... " The clothes dryer was on a waist-high platform outside the bathroom. All the way, Qin Ran had been explaining everything in detail to Li Shiyin. Entering the bathroom, he said, "Touch here with your hand for hot water, touch there for cold water. The boxes here contain shampoo, shower gel and laundry detergent. Just press to dispense."

"What arrays are these?" Li Shiyin asked.

"These aren't arrays, they are...some physics basics, atmospheric pressure and such..." Qin Ran said. "Try them yourself. I'll go get you a change of clothes."

He turned and left the bathroom, walked along the hallway, and entered the strangely furnished room.

Watching her master's departing back, Li Shiyin felt it was all so magical... Were all masters this amazing and incredible, or was it just hers?

Curiously she fiddled with the various designs in the bathroom, touching here, pressing there. The shower head alternated between hot and cold water. Her hands were soon covered in slippery gel.

When Qin Ran returned with the clothes, he happened to see the stony-faced Li Shiyin messing around wet and sticky in the bathroom like a naughty child.

Hmm...he suddenly felt perhaps her stony face was not cold, but blank, wooden, dumb...silly.

"There haven't been female disciples at Dan Peak for many years, no disciples at all. No women's clothes, so just make do with mine for now, we'll figure it out later." He shook his head and said as he walked over, "If you can sew, we can just buy some fabric. If not, we'll go to the Butler Hall to order custom-made clothes."

Hearing Qin Ran's voice, Li Shiyin hurriedly stopped and turned around. Seeing Qin Ran walk over with clothes, she quickly hid her hands behind her back, just like a little girl caught doing something wrong.

Qin Ran didn't scold her, but went straight to put the clothes in the laundry basket, then turned to leave. Halfway out, he added, "Wash up first... Oh, lock the door like this, you can lock it from the inside... After your bath, best to wash your clothes too, and put them in the dryer. They'll be dry by tomorrow morning."

After these instructions, he entered the study and closed the door.

Li Shiyin's face flushed ever so slightly in the bathroom. She quickly shut the bathroom door, fiddled around for a good while longer to satisfy her curiosity, before finally starting her bath.

She bathed, then as Qin Ran had told her, washed her clothes and put them in the dryer. Seeing the dryer automatically heating up and blowing air, she marveled again at how magical it was. She walked forward, turned and pushed open the study door, and saw her new incredible master hunched over the desk by the window, writing and drawing.

Chapter 5

The window of the study was opposite the door. By now, the night had already fallen dark, and the lamplight from the study shone out through the window. Outside, one could see the tall Ling Scholar tree;

Directly below the window was a desk, on which were scattered thread-bound books, paper, writing brushes, and the like;

To the left of the window on the wall was a small bookshelf, on which books and bamboo and jade slips were neatly arranged;

To the right of the window was a large bookshelf, which also had books on top and cabinets below.

At this time, Qin Ran was sitting in a chair made of woven bamboo strips, with a thick, soft cushion underneath him, lying stomach-down on the desk writing something.

Li Shiyin opened the door and walked over, wanting to see what Qin Ran was writing.

The sound of her opening the door made Qin Ran turn around. Seeing her approach in a white changshan, he felt a bit awkward inside. The clothes were his, but when worn by Li Shiyin, they only looked loose while still fitting her.

"Ah-hem!" He gave a light cough and spoke up, "I'm thinking about how to teach you cultivation."

Li Shiyin was puzzled. Cultivation, wasn't it just being given a cultivation method, then following the instructions to practice? But she didn't respond, only looking at Qin Ran to see what he would say.

"My cultivation level is only at the late Foundation Establishment stage. Although I believe my understanding of cultivation is still thorough, but..." Qin Ran turned in his chair to face her as Li Shiyin walked over to the tableside. He continued, "My cultivation is still too low. I still don't know if my understanding is right or not. So I still feel confused about how exactly I should teach you.

"Generally speaking, the higher one's cultivation level, the more thorough their understanding of cultivation, especially regarding lower realms. Therefore, it's best to take a master whose cultivation level is definitively high. Looking down from the high vantage point, he can guide the disciple to walk each step perfectly.

"In my personal opinion, a good master is more important than good cultivation resources.

"Yet my cultivation is only at Foundation Establishment. To teach you the foundations, this is really..."

He shook his head.

Beside him, Li Shiyin lowered her head.

"My cultivation isn't high, my experience isn't broad. My understanding of cultivation may be mistaken, which could affect your future development," Qin Ran went on. "So I have to be extremely prudent."

"Master..." The head-lowered Li Shiyin suddenly spoke up.

"Hm?" Qin Ran raised his head to look at her. He saw determination surface on her cold, no, he was certain, blank face.

"I trust you," she said.

"Thank you," Qin Ran felt a current of warmth sweep through his heart. Nothing was more touching than trust. He smiled and no longer agonized over the matter. Instead, he moved on, "Then, regarding your cultivation, I've decided to first test your alchemy talents. Since the Golden Spirit Root isn't traditionally considered suitable for alchemy. If you don't have talent in alchemy..."

He didn't get to finish as Li Shiyin interrupted, "Master, I must learn alchemy."

Qin Ran wasn't angry. He looked at Li Shiyin and saw the young girl gritting her teeth, set on learning alchemy no matter what. He knew she had to come to Dan Peak and learn alchemy no matter what, surely for reasons of her own which he didn't ask about. He only nodded.

He took a book off the table and handed it to Li Shiyin, saying, "This is a foundational cultivation method that only teaches you how to sense qi. You can cultivate with it, but progress will be very slow. It has one advantage, which is that the cultivated qi has no attribute, making it suitable for switching cultivation methods later."

"Master, I..." Li Shiyin wanted to refuse. She wanted to directly learn the alchemy cultivation method. Young people always have some inexplicable confidence in themselves.

"Take it first," Qin Ran said.

Although his tone was gentle, it made Li Shiyin not dare to refuse. She reached out and took the book.

Seeing that she had taken the book, Qin Ran suddenly recalled an important matter. He asked, "Do you know how to read?"

"Mn," Li Shiyin nodded. "Although family teachings weren't strict, I did learn poetry, books, rituals, and music."

Qin Ran nodded, relieved. As long as she could read, that was good. Otherwise he'd have to teach her how to read, which would be too terrifying.

"Many who aren't sure of their cultivation path start with this method. The major sects are also like this. So this method has a name, called Foundational Cultivation Method," he said with a laugh as he stood up and walked outside.

"I'll give you the method first for you to take a look, consider it...preview. I'll explain and teach you how to cultivate, how to sense qi later. But that's it for today. You must be tired too. Rest first. Anything else we'll talk tomorrow."

Holding the book, Li Shiyin pursed her lips, evidently reluctant to practice this Foundational Cultivation Method. But she kept her head lowered and didn't object, following Qin Ran out of the study.

Qin Ran led Li Shiyin through the corridor and opened the transparent door, introducing, "This is the exercise room, self-explanatory, a room for exercise. The essence of cultivating immortality is making oneself stronger, so necessary training is indispensable."

Following behind, Li Shiyin glanced around. From the outside, she had felt the room was a bit big, but coming inside now, she felt it was extremely spacious. She privately measured and guessed one could even ride a horse in here without issue.

The room held many apparatuses she didn't recognize. Some looked like torture devices, some she recognized, like the weapons rack, the circular plates for building arm strength.

The two passed through the exercise room and exited from the other door, coming to the place opposite the storage room downstairs. Arranged in a row here were two rooms.

"This room is my bedroom..." Qin Ran pointed to the one nearer the exercise room, then pointed to the room at the end of the corridor, "And the one opposite, originally belonged to my master. But Master didn't like living upstairs and barely stayed here a few times. After he ascended, it was converted into a guest room, but Dan Peak has had no guests needing lodging."

He brought Li Shiyin to the end of the corridor and opened the door. The lights inside automatically turned on. The not-very-large room held a bed, a table, and a cabinet, nothing else.

"It's yours from now on," he told Li Shiyin.

Due to the dust-repelling array, the four-piece bedding set on the bed remained spotless. The blue covers looked clean.

"The bedding is all new, actually no one has used them," he added. "Change them if you don't like them."

After Li Shiyin entered the room, he turned to leave, saying, "That's it. It's late, rest early. I'm right next door. If you need anything..."

As he spoke, he felt he didn't seem like a master, but more like an innkeeper, or a parental figure. So he didn't continue admonishing. After all, there was no danger at Dan Peak.

He waved his hand, bid goodnight, then turned and left.

After Qin Ran departed, Li Shiyin looked around the room. She went and put down the Foundational Cultivation Method on the table, then sat at the bedside and gazed up out the window at the nightscape, spacing out.

Since arriving at Dan Peak, everything had been better than imagined. Aside from fewer people, Dan Peak had no other shortcomings. Aside from lower cultivation, her master had no other flaws.

It was just, her master was too good, too gentle, completely unlike the immortal grace and bones she had imagined, completely the opposite of the harsh cruelty she envisioned. He didn't even seem like a master, more like the gentle older brother next door, like family.

If her subsequent cultivation could continue so smoothly, then her start in cultivating immortality was simply perfectly ideal, completely unlike the dangerous cultivating world described by others.

She drew her gaze back from the window and lowered her head, suddenly feeling bashful seeing that she still wore her master's clothes.

In the bedroom next door, Qin Ran lay in bed looking out the window, a pillow under his head. His feeling was a bit numb, a bit...unreal!

He had been leisurely cultivating here, not bothering anyone, how could he suddenly, "pah", gain a disciple?

For a shut-in in his twenties, wasn't this a tremendous psychological damage!?

His small world had been abruptly shattered by an external object. This feeling of insecurity...was truly too horrifying. The freedom and ease of being alone was gone, changed to being two people. And not only that, he even had to teach his disciple to cultivate...

"Ahhhhh..." Qin Ran suddenly collapsed at the snapping heartstrings after holding up all day. His heart was a tangled mess.

Chapter 6

The next morning, Qin Ran woke up with a start from his sleep and sat up abruptly in bed. He was confused for a good while before remembering why he had to get up early.

He seemed to have accepted a disciple and was going to teach her cultivation today.

Last night before bed, he reminded himself that he had to set a good example and...get up early.

"Ah!!!" Realizing this point, Qin Ran couldn't help but wail and cover his face. What sin had he committed to end up in this situation?!

"Mom, I don't want to go to school..."

"Get a grip on yourself, you're the teacher!!"

In the end, he still got out of bed.

Qin Ran put on a white singlet and opened the bedroom door to the corridor. The cool, moist morning breeze blew in from the forest, carrying the fresh scent of grass and soil, instantly awakening him.

He looked up at the vast sky. Only a few wisps of clouds drifted lazily by. Golden light shone behind the forest - the sun was rising.

It was going to be another sunny day!

Qin Ran stretched lazily.

Looking back, he glanced at the bedroom door next to his and hesitated for a moment before deciding not to knock.

"Let her sleep a while longer," he murmured with a sigh.

She was so young, having traveled thousands of miles from home to cultivate here. It must have been difficult for her. It reminded him of his own inexplicable transmigration to this world.

Qin Ran slowly went downstairs to the kitchen and poured himself a cup of pure white milk. He took a pack of bean-like things that looked like candy from the fridge and sat down at the dining table.

Creating things similar to those on Earth was the only comfort in this otherworldly traveler's heart.

The fridge was made using formations - it wasn't too difficult to replicate the principles of a fridge using formations. The exterior looked just like fridges on Earth.

The candy beans were a breakfast he had refined using the pill refining methods for the Grain Pill but with different ingredients, adding some flavors he liked. They were nutritious and tasty.

As for the milk, it was bought from the market. It was also cow's milk, but not from ordinary cows. Rather, it was milk from a species called Three-Horned Crimson Aurochs.

This world didn't have dedicated dairy suppliers, but all kinds of beast milk could be bought at cultivator markets. Some of these milks had been tried by predecessors and were known to not only taste good but also benefit cultivation, like this Three-Horned Crimson Aurochs milk. Some were new finds by cultivators and no one knew if they were drinkable or not.

After a mouthful of milk, Qin Ran picked up a book about rare treasures and exotic beasts from a nearby shelf to read while eating. It was quite a leisurely and carefree scene.

Just then, the living room door suddenly opened and Li Shiyin in a bright yellow mandarin collar dress walked in from outside.

Li Shiyin's gaze passed through the living room and saw Qin Ran in the kitchen. She then headed over.

"You..." Weren't you still sleeping? Qin Ran said hesitantly. "Where did you go?"

"I walked around outside, looking everywhere." Li Shiyin replied.

"Oh!" As expected, he was the lazy dog. Qin Ran nodded with a straight face. "That's pretty early."

"I'm used to it. It was like this at home too." Li Shiyin said.

"Always like this? What does your family do?" Qin Ran stood up to pour a cup of cow's milk for Li Shiyin and said, "Sit and have some breakfast."

"Breakfast?" Li Shiyin was puzzled. Her master's words were quite strange sometimes. Although understandable, the wording was a little odd.

"Breakfast, meal and fast, they're similar." Qin Ran said casually, placing the cup in front of Li Shiyin on the table. "This is Three-Horned Crimson Aurochs milk. It's good for the body, but you can't drink too much."

Li Shiyin sat down and said, "My father is the Grand General of the North Chu Country. He was very strict with us since we were young."

The North Chu Country? Geographically speaking, it was not far from the Dao Sword Sect. In fact, it could be said that the Dao Sword Sect was within the North Chu Country's territory. However, there was no substantial hierarchical relationship between the North Chu Country and the Dao Sword Sect.

As for Qin Ran who had transmigrated over, he could be considered half a person of the North Chu Country.

"A prominent military family huh?" Qin Ran smiled.

No wonder this lass could hike up a mountain with him all day yesterday and still wake up so early today. He had thought the average person in this world also had such great physical fitness!

He pushed the breakfast candy beans to Li Shiyin and said, "These are made using the methods for refining Grain Pills, but catered to my personal taste. Later I'll teach you how to refine them, and you can make them to your own taste."

With so many odd things, Li Shiyin felt she was almost immune to surprises now. She popped two candy beans into her mouth. They melted upon entering, sweet and delicious, transforming into a warm stream down her throat.

She glanced at Qin Ran. So her master liked sweet food.

After chatting for a while in the kitchen and eating breakfast, Qin Ran brought Li Shiyin across the river to the brick and stone building.

Qin Ran pushed open the large door and said to Li Shiyin, "Cultivation and pill refining are usually done here, but living is separate from that. Still have to keep them apart."

"??" Li Shiyin was puzzled directly, not really understanding Qin Ran's train of thought. Weren't cultivation and pill refining a cultivator's whole life? But she didn't dare ask.

"The first floor is for pill refining. There are pill furnaces, earth fire, Profound Condensation water, centrifuges...oh, the Centrifugal Formation." As they walked into the corridor, Qin Ran briefly introduced each room to Li Shiyin. "The first floor is basically for pill refining."

"Then the second floor stores medicinal ingredients, and the third floor stores pills..."

As he spoke, he brought Li Shiyin upstairs to the second floor and casually pushed open a room. The interior was arranged like a Chinese medicine shop, with rows of brown drawers containing medicinal ingredients.

"The first step in pill refining is to recognize medicinal ingredients..." There was a table and chairs in the middle of the room. Qin Ran had Li Shiyin sit down while he himself pulled out a large bundle of herbs from a small drawer. "This is the main material for refining Origin Recovery Pills - Origin Guiding Grass."

Li Shiyin sat there watching her master take herbs out of the small drawer, knowing there must be some magical array formation inside.

Qin Ran spoke while taking out more than a dozen ingredients of various shapes from other drawers, introducing them one by one to Li Shiyin until her head buzzed noisily.

"These are all the medicinal ingredients for refining Origin Recovery Pills. Origin Recovery Pills are a very basic medicinal pill, usually used by Foundation Establishment stage cultivators to quickly recover spiritual power. If spiritual power runs out during battles, Origin Recovery Pills can replenish it."

Qin Ran took out a portion of each medicinal ingredient and arranged them on the table in front of Li Shiyin. He also took out a book from the purse-like cosmos bag at his waist and handed it to Li Shiyin.

"Your task today is to remember what these original medicinal ingredients look like - their appearance, collection methods, processing methods, appearance after processing, effects, quantities used in refining, and processing methods during refining..."

As he spoke, he suddenly noticed Li Shiyin's confused gaze and stopped, simply saying in the end, "Forget it, just remember their original appearance and effects, as well as their appearance after processing."

Looking at the medicinal ingredients before her and listening to her master's ceaseless chatter, Li Shiyin had long been confused. She finally found a hint of a master's temperament in him, and it was even more terrifying than the old tutors in the family school. She could only nod blankly.

"That's it then..." Qin Ran finished his instructions, gathered up the ingredients and walked out. "I'll be refining pills downstairs. Come find me around noon to test you."

Watching Qin Ran's retreating back, Li Shiyin slowly came back to her senses. She held the book in her hands and reluctantly turned her head towards it. The pages had illustrations and text. The illustrations were colorful and lifelike while the text was...densely packed and very detailed.

She took a look...

"Ah..." and let out a big yawn. She further grumbled to herself, "Did I get up too early today? Feeling a little sleepy..."

Although Dan Peak had declined and was virtually defunct, it was still Dan Peak after all. It had to do what it was supposed to.

And what was Dan Peak supposed to do? Of course, pill refining! To provide Dao Sword Sect with a basic medicinal pill supply.

Of course, for Qin Ran to supply the entire sect with all its pills, he would have to work himself to death. But providing some basic, necessary pills within his capabilities was still possible.

Like the Grain Pill, Origin Recovery Pill, Foundation Establishing Pill and other essential medicinal pills he could refine.

Qin Ran was preparing to refine Origin Recovery Pills today.

Origin Recovery Pills, a basic medicinal pill, can quickly restore spiritual power. They are needed by all cultivators in the immortal cultivation world, from low-level cultivators to top-level masters. Well, low-level cultivators need low-grade Origin Recovery Pills, while high-level cultivators need high-grade ones.

So how was Qin Ran's pill refining skills? Can't say it's good or bad. It's just different from others.

Because he had a scientific research mindset, his skills can't be compared to other pill refiners in the cultivation world.

The most obvious trait is that his pill refining speed is much faster than ordinary pill refiners. Once he comprehends a pill formula, his refining methods are completely different.

In just a morning, while other pill refiners could open one furnace at most, without guaranteed success, even if it succeeded, a furnace yielded only seven or eight pills. But Qin Ran could open two or three furnaces, all successful, with at least ten pills per furnace.

After easily completing today's tasks, Qin Ran took three or four porcelain bottles upstairs, humming a tune, ready to check on Li Shiyin to see if she remembered the medicinal materials.

But when he opened the door, he saw Li Shiyin's drool nearly flooding the table...

Chapter 7

The room was crammed with cabinets full of medicinal materials, leaving little empty space. A table was also squeezed in, so the lighting wasn't very bright either.

It was narrow, dim and...perfect for sleeping. Especially with the faint herbal fragrance in the room, it made people even drowsier.

Qin Ran pushed open the door and saw Li Shiyin sleeping soundly face down on the table. The book on medicinal materials was pressed under her face, and her originally chubby cheeks looked even rounder.

It was an exaggeration to say the table was flooded, but the book was indeed drenched. The pages had become damp. Qin Ran could only sigh that he didn't have a cellphone with him after transmigrating, otherwise he could have taken a picture of this scene and played it on loop around the world after Li Shiyin became a powerful figure...

Thinking this, he looked from the backlit doorway at the sleeping girl's blurred features.

The girl had fair and delicate skin, contrasting with the dark yellow book pages. Her brush-like eyelashes had their own allure. Her pouty lips...with glistening drool dripping from the corners, seemed even more rosy.

"She does look good...No! Her face must be stained black by the ink." Qin Ran suppressed the strange things arising in his heart, and pretended to shake his head with a sigh, blaming the girl for not learning properly.

After standing at the door for a while, he walked in lightly, found a chair, and sat down opposite the table. He took out a book from his cosmic bag, and quietly started reading.

Li Shiyin didn't wake up until sunlight shone in through the window behind her. Still groggy, she opened her eyes and saw the sunlight reflecting off the book pages. She noticed the pool of drool on the page mixed with the words.

She was stunned for a moment, vaguely thinking she had fallen asleep again in class, and hurriedly sat up to look ahead. But instead of seeing the white-bearded old teacher, there was a handsome young man.

This young man was reading a book while leaning against the chair back, a picture of leisure. The sunlight shone in through the window behind him, bathing him in its glow, making him seem to radiate light.

"Did the old teacher become younger?"

This was Li Shiyin's first reaction. She was about to apologize, but suddenly realized the old teacher would never be so gentle, and should have caned her already. This couldn't be the old teacher. She then remembered this was the master she had just taken on as a disciple yesterday.

As her mind slowly shook off its grogginess, she finally recalled her master had asked her to recite information about medicinal materials...

"Awake?" Qin Ran closed his book over his chest. Squinting in the sunlight, he looked at Li Shiyin.

"Awake...I'm awake..." Li Shiyin mumbled in reply. At this moment, the shame of being caught slacking off and the embarrassment of drooling in her sleep exploded in her mind simultaneously, making her want to find a hole to hide in. But her master's gentle tone finally enabled her to speak.

Although she kept her head lowered like a child admitting wrongdoing, with her face flushed red from embarrassment.

"How much did you remember?" Qin Ran asked. His gaze shifted down to the book page that had been dirtied into an illegible mess by her drool. As expected, it was still the first page.

Li Shiyin also looked at the book, and saw the damp stains on it. Flustered, she hurriedly closed the book, trying to cover up her misdeed.

"Oh dear..." Qin Ran sighed with faux maturity, shaking his head as if blaming her inability to meet expectations. He closed his own book, stood up, and said, "Perhaps because you just arrived and didn't rest well last night, or the spiritual energy in the milk this morning was too much for your body. Anyway, rest first. We'll talk again after lunch."

Li Shiyin thought for a bit. Recalling her performance in school, she wanted to say it wasn't due to objective reasons. But in the end she just nodded and said, "It was the milk this morning, it made me sleepy."

"Let's go!" Without another word, Qin Ran waved his hand to summon Li Shiyin's book back to him.

"Master..." Li Shiyin felt awful. She reached out to snatch the book back, because the evidence of her misdeed was still on it.

But Qin Ran ignored her, turning to walk out with his inner force evaporating the drool on the book. With a flip of his hand, the book went into his cosmos bag.

Li Shiyin had no choice. Face red, head lowered, she followed Qin Ran out of the medicine room.

Stepping outside, Li Shiyin realized the sun had already moved west. It must be afternoon now. When she had entered this medicine room earlier, it was not even eight o'clock. She was supposed to be studying, but had slept until now instead.

Qin Ran walked ahead, sneaking a glance back at Li Shiyin. Seeing her hanging her head, looking as if regretting her actions, it reminded him of his university days, when classmates had the same expression after leaving the self-study hall.

He suddenly felt nostalgic, and said with a laugh, "Was it more comfortable sleeping here than in bed?"

"Huh?" Li Shiyin didn't react at first, unsure if this was casual chatting, or mocking. But from understanding her master over the past day, she felt he was sincerely asking her opinion. She thought about it, and honestly replied, "Yes...it really was."

Qin Ran shook his head and continued, "It'd definitely be even more comfortable if I was lecturing you."

"Mm..." Li Shiyin actually agreed with this very much, because she always felt especially sleepy whenever the old teacher gave lectures. But she sensed unknown danger, and didn't respond, only giving an ambiguous murmur.

"In the past..." Qin Ran's tone was rather nostalgic, "A long, long time ago, a classmate used our math teacher's lecture audio as a lullaby at night, with great results."

Li Shiyin raised her head to look at Qin Ran's back, sensing a loneliness in him.

Master has an interesting past! She thought, and kept staring. But as she looked on, Master suddenly turned his head. Caught off guard, their gazes met directly, and she panicked for some reason, lowering her head.

Qin Ran also panicked, hurriedly turning his head back, and continued speaking, "In the future...if you can't sleep, you can also listen to my lecture audio..."

It was just normal joking around, but the guilty-minded found something off about his words, and trailed off, voice getting smaller and smaller until it couldn't be heard.

Li Shiyin was flustered, but suddenly noticed something strange in Master's voice...

As they walked downstairs and out the front door, onto the grass by the creek, she listened to the waterfall in the distance, and realized Master seemed embarrassed, even more than her.

Sensing this, she didn't feel as embarrassed anymore. Raising her head, she stared straight at Qin Ran's back.

She was the esteemed young miss of the great North Chu Li family. Her writing could stabilize the realm (×), her martial arts could mount a horse to establish the universe. How could she put on such a petty act?

The Qin Ran ahead was completely unaware that just casual chatting for a few sentences had already ruined his master image. As he walked ahead, his heart pitter-pattered chaotically...

It wasn't that he had any strange thoughts about his disciple. She seemed underage still, so it'd be a crime, although North Chu girls could marry at fourteen. He truly didn't have any indecent ideas, she was his disciple after all, although so pretty and foolishly cute. No no no, he was a righteous gentleman, he absolutely wouldn't commit such beastly acts, even if he shut himself in for twenty more years. He wouldn't randomly fall for a girl.

"I must maintain the prestigious image of a master!" He warned himself, and secretly took a deep breath, straightening his back and lifting his head to appear taller and grander.

One was forcibly maintaining his already collapsed master image there, strangling the strange sprouts arising in his heart. The other was secretly toppling her master's image in her mind, and planting an unseen seed in the ruins.

They left the research building, crossed the creek, and entered the living room of the residential building. Still, Qin Ran ducked into the kitchen to cook while Li Shiyin sat in the living room, cupping her scalding hot face, pondering unknown thoughts.

Chapter 8

After lunch, Qin Ran subconsciously wanted to go lie on the sofa. In the past, he would lie down for at least half an hour after eating, but today, he had only taken two steps before stopping. Because he suddenly realized that those days might be gone forever, he could not help sighing, turned around and went out.

Seeing Master shaking his head and sighing again and again, Li Shiyin did not know what was going on with Master who had just eaten.

She followed Qin Ran to the door.

Master walked onto the lawn, to the riverbank, lowered his head looking at the river. At this time, the scenery was like a painting, he was like a painted figure... A pensive painted figure.

Li Shiyin thought for a while, then followed along to the riverbank. Lowering her head, she looked at the clear water below, where there were also fish and shrimp swimming along the current.

Sensing that Li Shiyin had followed along, Qin Ran glanced at her, then turned his head back to look at the water under his feet. Suddenly he said:

"The Master said on the riverbank, the departed are thus gone, they no longer tarry day or night.

"The original meaning of cultivation was actually to fight against time and seek immortality. It's just that on the path of cultivation, people discovered that cultivation would obtain very powerful abilities, so some began to cultivate for power. "

He sighed, "Then immortality and power became the two paths of cultivation."

"The sword is the path of power, alchemy is the path of immortality." He turned his head and looked at Li Shiyin, asking, "Do you want to pursue alchemy or swordsmanship?"

Li Shiyin did not know who "Master" was, nor did she understand what Master meant by those words. But she did want to pursue alchemy, so she immediately answered, "Alche..."

Qin Ran raised his hand to stop her from continuing, saying,

"You're giving up your promising future in swordsmanship, just to come to Dan Peak. I know you must have a reason you must learn alchemy. But I still hope you'll reconsider carefully. You don't have to answer me now, think it over and then let me know."

Li Shiyin fell silent.

"Alchemy requires memorizing many medicinal materials, memorizing many pill formulas, knowing how to turn medicinal materials into pills and elixirs. It's not just cultivating an alchemy technique, knowing a certain pill formula, and then you can start alchemy..."

Qin Ran raised his head and looked towards the distant forest, "But swordsmanship doesn't require memorizing much, just cultivating one martial art, learning one sword technique, and nurturing a fated sword is enough."

He asked again, "Do you think you are more suited for alchemy or swordsmanship?"

Li Shiyin was born in a sect family, although her father had tried his best, giving her the name Shiyin, letting her learn poetry, etiquette and propriety, hoping she could be gentler, more cultured and well-read.

But the influence of family tradition was too great, she did not become a young lady in the end...

Whether she was more suited for swordsmanship or alchemy, she was actually clearer than anyone else.

"There is no hierarchy between professions, but generally speaking, sword cultivators are more popular in the cultivation world. Everyone knows wet nurses are important, but who doesn't want to be the sword immortal who can take heads from a thousand miles away with a flying sword?" Qin Ran said with a smile, "Young lady, you should still pursue swordsmanship!"

Li Shiyin pursed her lips, watching the fish in the river without speaking.

"Swordsmanship is fast, alchemy is slow. Make your decision soon!" Qin Ran said finally, "But today, I will still teach you the basics of cultivation."

After watching the fish for a while, the two crossed the river and returned to the research building. Qin Ran told Li Shiyin to wait in the morning's pharmacy, while he went upstairs to get a human anatomy model.

"Before starting cultivation, you must first understand the various meridians and acupoints of the human body. Otherwise, once you have Qi perception, you won't know how to circulate Qi," Qin Ran said, placing the anatomy model on the table. Li Shiyin sat behind the table as he looked at her and said,

"This model was what I used when I was learning martial arts techniques back then. Now I'm demonstrating it to you."

"Models? Does the cultivation world have such things?" Li Shiyin sat up straight, but her lively eyes betrayed her. Master was truly strange, his style never made sense.

"Look, the acupoints from top to bottom, this is Baihui Point, connecting to Heaven and Earth. When the Primordial Spirit forms, it emerges from here... This is Yintang Point, also the location of the Sea of Wisdom. What is called the Upper Elixir Field, once you form your Divine Soul, it will reside here..."

Qin Ran pointed at the anatomy model, explaining in detail from top to bottom for Li Shiyin,

"This is Dazhong Point, also the Middle Elixir Field, where the Primordial Spirit will reside later... This is Qihai Point, also the Lower Elixir Field, where the Qi Swirl and Golden Core are located.

"Cultivation will start from the Lower Elixir Field. Once you have Qi perception, coalesce the Qi Swirl at the Lower Elixir Field, then as your cultivation level increases, the Qi Swirl grows larger, coagulating into a Golden Core, then the Golden Core incubates and the Primordial Spirit emerges shattering the Core..."

Qin Ran spoke fluently, explaining place by place in great detail, taking care not to make mistakes, while also expressing his own insights into cultivation in layman's terms, subtly indicating that he had learned something.

But Li Shiyin, who was sitting behind the table listening... her eyes went from lively, to fixed, then dull, then closed.

By the time he got from Baihui Point to Qihai Point, Li Shiyin was already playing tug-of-war with Lord Zhou, and by the time he got from Foundation Establishment to Divine Ascension, Li Shiyin had given up and was chatting merrily with Lord Zhou.

Qin Ran spoke enthusiastically, then suddenly turned back and found Li Shiyin was already half asleep. He was stunned for a moment, suddenly realizing how the teachers in high school must have felt when they saw the whole classroom full of students dozing off, and how disappointed they must have been.

Was his lecture really that soporific? He couldn't help but feel doubtful.

But either way, he had to stop.

If cultivation could be divided into theoretical and practical factions, then Qin Ran was a diehard theorist. If he didn't fully understand the function of each acupoint, the specific path of each cultivation technique, he couldn't advance his cultivation. At this time, he had little experience and assumed everyone was like him, unable to learn a technique properly without thorough preparation in advance. So when he saw Li Shiyin's performance in class, he was quite doubtful:

Is this really top-tier Spirit Root?!

Qin Ran sat down and looked at Li Shiyin with her mouth pouting, nodding off uncontrollably. He started thinking, should he still talk about the meridians later? Without knowing the acupoints and meridians clearly, how could one cultivate?

But looking at Li Shiyin's current state... a headache, ah what a headache!

Qin Ran gently tapped the table, and Li Shiyin stopped nodding, but still didn't wake up. Qin Ran hesitated, wondering if he was disturbing her rest, but still tapped the table again. Finally Li Shiyin woke up.

Li Shiyin opened her eyes blurrily, seeing Master's helpless expression before her, a sense of guilt welled up in her heart. She quickly lowered her head apologetically, saying "Sorry, Master, sorry, I...couldn't...resist..."

"How much did you hear of what I just explained?" Seeing his young disciple's silly and cute appearance, Qin Ran struggled with his last ounce of hope.

"Baihui Point, something about connecting with Heaven and Earth, something about Divine Soul, something about Primordial Spirit..." Li Shiyin tried hard to recall what Qin Ran had just explained, saying everything she heard, "Egg breaks, baby comes out, Qi becomes a sea..."

Qin Ran raised his hand to stop Li Shiyin's nonsense. Finally he asked, "Do you know what any of this is?"

"Huh?" Li Shiyin shook her head blankly.

"Alas!" Qin Ran let out a sigh, standing up. At this time he really wanted to say, you can't carve wood that's rotten!

But he didn't say it after all.

Turning around and walking out, he reached into his Cosmic Bag as he got to the door, took out a book, turned back and placed it on the table, saying "This is an illustrated guide to the human meridians. I've annotated all the meridians involved in Foundation Establishment stage cultivation, noting what attributes are associated with each meridian, you go ahead and read it yourself!"

Having said that, he turned around and left.

Watching Master's departing back, Li Shiyin felt very guilty. She also didn't know why she always felt drowsy!

Letting out a helpless sigh, Li Shiyin picked up the book on the table and flipped it open. Like the materia medica book from the morning, the images were in color, with anatomy models clearly and vividly depicted, and the printed words were also densely packed, explaining things in great detail, with Master's handwritten notes in the margins.

In short, with one glance, she felt the whole world was made of words, and her head started pounding.

She hurriedly tossed the book back onto the table, as if it had bitten her.

Li Shiyin leaned back against the chair in despair, raising her head to look at the ceiling.

"How can I cultivate like this?" she lamented, "Looking at books makes me sleepy, how will I ever concoct pills?"

She was lost in thought when she suddenly realized something. "Master is only at the Foundation Establishment Stage, so how could he say he has marked all the meridians mentioned in this book for the Foundation Establishment Stage? Could it be that Master has read all the cultivation methods for the Foundation Establishment Stage?!"

She was startled by her own thoughts. It's unbelievable that someone could read so many books!

"As expected of Master, he is indeed terrifying!"

Chapter 9

When Li Shiyin came out from the research building, she saw Qin Ran holding a hoe, digging the ground by the riverbank, right next to that patch of lush unrecognizable grass.

She walked over and asked from across the river, "Master, what are you planting?"

"Planting some Crane Crown Immortal Grass..." Qin Ran replied briefly, put down the hoe, took out a porcelain bottle from his Universe Bag, shook it and poured out a few milky white seeds with black dots. He spread them out to show Li Shiyin and explained, "These are Crane Crown Immortal Grass seeds. They are expensive. Just this one bottle has less than fifty seeds but costs ten low-grade Spirit Stones."

Li Shiyin knew Spirit Stones were precious. They were basically impossible to find in the mortal world. The fact that just a few seeds cost ten Spirit Stones surprised her. She asked again, "What is this Crane Crown Immortal Grass used for? Is it very valuable?"

"Crane Crown Immortal Grass. When mature, the tips of the grass bend down and turn white, looking like a crane's head, very beautiful," Qin Ran answered. "It is one of the three main ingredients for refining Foundation Establishing Pill, so naturally very precious."

"Foundation Establishing Pill?"

"Some cultivators are not talented and may be unable to build their foundations. Foundation Establishing Pill greatly increases their chances of doing so." Qin Ran patiently explained.

Li Shiyin nodded. She pointed at the lush grass next to Qin Ran and asked, "What immortal grass is this then?"

Qin Ran's expression changed almost imperceptibly as he glanced over. He replied, "This is Awaken Spirit Grass."

"What is Awaken Spirit Grass used for?"

"Awaken Spirit Grass..." Awaken Spirit Grass was used to refine Soul Fusion Pill, but Qin Ran didn't say that. He only said, "Awaken Spirit Grass is very good for one's soul."

"Oh!" Li Shiyin didn't notice Qin Ran's strange behavior. She smiled and said, "So immortal grass is planted like this too. My father plants flowers the same way at home."

"Don't think too highly of immortal grass. For example, Awaken Spirit Grass doesn't have high requirements for the environment and can indeed be planted like this," Qin Ran casually explained. He squatted down, planted a Crane Crown Immortal Grass seed in the hole he just dug, and further explained to Li Shiyin, "This is something I made specially, let's just call it Spirit Water for now. I extracted nutrients that plants need into the water along with Spirit Stones."

After putting away the "Spirit Water", he smiled and said, "I'm just experimenting to see if I can grow immortal grass with just Spirit Water and without Spirit Soil.

Master is so knowledgeable! So amazing! So incredible! Li Shiyin yelled in admiration in her heart once again.

"Right..." Qin Ran stood up, lightly covered the seed with soil using the hoe, and asked Li Shiyin as he did so, "How much have you read of the book I gave you yesterday?"

Li Shiyin's admiration immediately disappeared. She looked away awkwardly.

Seeing her reaction, Qin Ran naturally understood. He didn't pursue the issue further. After covering the seed with soil, he stuck the hoe into the ground nearby and went to the river to wash his hands.

"If you don't understand meridian pathways, acupoint locations, naturally you won't be able to cultivate..." He soaked his hands in the cool river water and said, "I mean you won't be able to cultivate, not that you can't concoct pills. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Can't concoct pills? Can't cultivate?" Li Shiyin didn't understand and shook her head.

Qin Ran sighed inwardly, thinking he had accepted an idiot apprentice. Why did he feel like she was a aloof goddess yesterday? After just one day, her stupidity was making him collapse.

He patiently explained, "If you can't cultivate, perhaps you can sense the qi in your body, the spiritual qi between heaven and earth, but you won't be able to mobilize them! You don't understand any of this?"

"But Master..." Looking at Qin Ran's expression of collapse and speechlessness, Li Shiyin didn't dare speak loudly. She said softly, "I can already mobilize the innate qi in my body."

"Huh?" Qin Ran was surprised, thinking he had misheard. He then felt Li Shiyin was lying to him and really got angry. "Tell me, how do you mobilize the qi between heaven and earth?"

"Just...like the book said, take the Five Hearts Facing Heaven posture, press the tongue to the palate, close the eyes, direct your consciousness from the space between the eyebrows to the body and limbs, imagine you can feel qi flowing, just like that..." Li Shiyin weakly replied. She closed her eyes as if mobilizing the innate qi in her body, "There really is a stream of qi flowing in my body, starting from, Master said, the qi sea, to here..." She pointed at her left ribs, "to Tanzhong acupoint, then to my left hand..."

She pointed out for Qin Ran one by one, entering from the left hand, exiting from the left hand, entering from the right hand, exiting from the right hand, and finally returning to the qi sea, a perfect cycle.

Seeing Li Shiyin's manner, Qin Ran realized she was probably not lying and had indeed started cultivating. He immediately crossed the river to her side and unceremoniously grabbed her wrist to carefully examine. He discovered there really was a flow of qi moving in her body according to the basic cultivation technique's flow path.

He opened his eyes wide in disbelief and asked, "You... Have you cultivated before or..."

"Master, didn't you give me the Basic Cultivation Technique last night?" Looking at her wrist grabbed by Qin Ran, Li Shiyin didn't know what she was thinking. She said, "I couldn't sleep last night, so I practiced following the book. Then I had that qi sensation and guided it to flow in my body, just like the diagrams in the book, very simple. Master, you said I wouldn't be able to cultivate without knowing about meridians and acupoints, so I was a little scared... Did I practice wrongly and would deviate?"

"No...no..." Qin Ran let go of Li Shiyin's hand, starting to doubt life. "You didn't practice wrongly. You did very well. After you open the Ren and Du Channels and sense the spiritual qi between heaven and earth, you can condense qi cyclones and start building your foundation."

Li Shiyin clearly knew nothing about meridians and acupoints. How could she so smoothly gain a qi sensation and mobilize the qi flow so correctly? He didn't really understand. Could it be that this apprentice was pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger, appearing to be silly but actually very crafty?

"Master..." Just as he was doubting life and doubting Li Shiyin, she suddenly called him again.

He looked over expressionlessly.

Li Shiyin lowered her head and softly asked, "Master, can you concoct pills to prolong life and increase longevity?"

"I haven't concocted any before," Qin Ran truthfully replied. The materials for such longevity pills were generally very expensive. He couldn't afford them.

"Oh!" Li Shiyin sounded a little disappointed.

Seeing her reaction, Qin Ran inexplicably added, "But I have studied them before. If I have a pill formula and materials, I believe I can also concoct them."

"Really?" Li Shiyin instantly became happy again.

"Really."

"Then..." Taking advantage of her courage, Li Shiyin continued asking, "If I practice the sword, do I have to go to Sword Peak?"

Qin Ran's heart stirred upon hearing this. He looked at Li Shiyin and saw her pair of bright eyes staring expectantly at him.

"If..." But he still replied, "If you want to achieve more in the sword, it's best to go to Sword Peak. I cultivate pill dao after all."

"Oh..."